Art

Survey Shows Millenials Find More Art On Instagram Than In Museums

We may enjoy a leisurely stumble through the Whitney every month after pregaming at the bar, but, apparently, that’s not the hip thing to do anymore. Millennials are avoiding museums like the plague (or a voting booth) and finding their art like they find their dinner orders: the Internet. The next best place to see art is through social media, which probably makes sense given that we stare at screens no matter where we are. Even museums aren’t safe from the rabid tourists taking photos of every single piece of art to recreate the MoMA on their camera rolls.

The next big blow to human interaction with reality comes from a survey by the online art marketplace Invaluable, which is also the name my grandma gave me when I helped her set up her flip phone. The “American Attitudes Toward Art”survey (meh! Mona Lisa selfie!) took responses from nearly 5,000 Americans last month, discovering that Instagram and Pinterest are the new Guggenheim.

A photo posted by the artist formerly known as (@adam___chuck) on Apr 13, 2016 at 6:31pm PDT

Since millennials spend more than 30 hours a week—a ridiculously lowball estimate—on social media, they’re on the hunt for the next great art pieces as they scroll through unappetizing food photos and selfies, and art dealers have taken notice. According to the findings, 44.3 percent of millennials age 18-24 and 33.8 percent of millennials age 25-34 indicate they discover new art through social media channels, and 56.9% age 18-24 and 51.6% ages 25-34 would buy art online—a fourth of millennials even prefer it. That means young people could potentially be buying artwork, clothes from the sale section of Barneys, and a dildo from Amazon all in one fell swoop.

Museums probably won’t go the way of Hollywood Video and Blockbuster anytime soon, but just in case, we’ve been stockpiling art Instagrams. After all, 42% of young millennials think collecting art, rather than college degrees and gold bars, is a good investment. If you plan to decorate your closet-sized apartment soon with original artwork, accounts like Chris Austin, Girlfriend Gallery, Adam Chuck, Rooney, and more have you covered. If you need us, we’ll be lamenting the downfall of museums while we walk red-eyed and wine drunk through the Whitney again.